For Immediate Release: MONDAY, NOVEMBER 28, 2016
Contact:
Dallas Goldtooth, dallas@ienearth.org, (507)-412-7609
Jade Begay, jade@ienearth.org, (505) 699-4791
Cannon Ball, ND – Tonight the Governor of North Dakota released an executive order stating that all persons located at the Oceti Sakowin Water Protector camp along Highway 1806 in Cannonball, ND must evacuate. This order comes three days after the Army Corps of Engineers announced plans to evict the general public from the camp on December 5th.
Governor Dalrymple is stepping outside of his jurisdiction and is putting thousands of Americans at danger as a winter storm warning is currently placed over the area where the camp exists.
The following are statements from the Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN):
“It’s very simple. Deny the permit for the easement or at the very least require a full Environmental Impact Statement, and then we will go home. IEN agrees with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, if Governor Dalrymple is so concerned about our safety, he needs to clear highway 1806, which is blocking emergency services and stop the violence that Morton County Sheriff’s department has been imposing on Water Protectors.
The biggest question on my mind is where is President Obama and why does he remain silent on this issue? Our intention has always been to be here until the water is protected. We have no intentions or plans to go anywhere. If the state of North Dakota tries to forcibly remove us they are once again perpetrating violence against innocent and unarmed citizens of this country.” – Kandi Mossett
“We remain committed to peaceful and prayerful civil disobedience. We estimate there are 6,000 people in this camp, women, children, disabled people, veterans, all here for the purpose of protecting the water. We are now in the heart of winter, the roads are icy and it is terrifying to think that the State of North Dakota is contemplating placing the lives of thousands at risk.” – Dallas Goldtooth
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